Utility's fate in voters' hands

Published 12:04 am, Thursday, October 20, 2011

Bexar Metropolitan Water District board president Guadalupe Lopez speaks during a June 27 press conference on the federal lawsuit, filed at the time to stop the dissolution election for the district.

Bexar Metropolitan Water District board president Guadalupe Lopez speaks during a June 27 press conference on the federal lawsuit, filed at the time to stop the dissolution election for the district.

Photo: EDWARD A. ORNELAS, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Utility's fate in voters' hands

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After years of turmoil, Bexar Metropolitan Water District ratepayers will have their say in whether or not to dissolve the utility.

The Nov. 8 special election, with early voting starting Monday, will determine whether BexarMet will become a part of the San Antonio Water System.

State Sen. Carlos Uresti and State Rep. José Menéndez, who wrote legislative bills that called for the election, say they are confident ratepayers will choose to dissolve the entity after years of board in-fighting, ratepayer complaints and federal indictments that plagued utility leaders.

“What I've tried to do is simply give the ratepayers a choice and they will have their chance to express that on Nov. 8,” Uresti said.

“I know the majority of ratepayers are looking forward to that choice and I feel very confident that they'll choose to dissolve and join with SAWS,” he added.

However, some who are opposing dissolution, including Gina Castañeda, a South Side political consultant who started the political action committee Keep BexarMet, say a dissolution would actually strip ratepayers of their voice.

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“They (ratepayers) need to vote against the proposition. They're losing their right to vote and we don't want to be treated as a stepchild,” she said.

She noted that some BexarMet ratepayers already have service with SAWS because of their sewage services.

With a dissolution, she said, ratepayers won't get the same representation they had with BexarMet.

“The benefit (of keeping BexarMet) is that BexarMet ratepayers have a say in how the utility is run through their elected board members,” Wenger wrote in an email.

“There have been a number of instances when ratepayers were concerned enough to speak up about issues and in every case, since I have been on the board, their opinions have been reflected in board votes.”

Castañeda agrees.

“We've got a lot of little towns that are not going to get represented on this because they are not part of the city of San Antonio.

“So about 44 to 45 percent of ratepayers of BexarMet are in these areas. (They) will have no voice in what is happening to their water system,” she said.

However, Uresti noted that having an elected board instead of an appointed board doesn't mean ratepayers lose their voice, instead they are represented in a different way.

“You don't have to be elected to be represented,” he said.

He also says there also are other elected officials who represent them and that after conversations with San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, he is under the impression that the mayor is open to appointing board members from rural areas.

Both Uresti and Menendez say that for years they have heard complaints from ratepayers about inconsistencies in billing and overall customer dissatisfaction, and that despite many chances given to the utility to turn things around, much is still the same.

“There have been four or five legislative sessions and every single session they say, ‘Don't worry we'll come back two years from now, we're going to turn this ship around,'” but the problems continue, Menendez said.

He pointed to the recent discovery that former BexarMet finance director Jesse Morin accepted an expense paid trip to Las Vegas from Water Exploration Co. President Dean Davenport after being a key negotiator in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit between the two entities as an example.

“If BexarMet has done such a good job they shouldn't be worried,” Menendez said.

Proponents of dissolution also say that having SAWS as the utility will likely allow ratepayers more stability in their services.

Those who oppose dissolution say that joining up with SAWS could cost ratepayers, particularly because the plan is to slowly merge the two within a span of five years.

“Per the legislation — and confirmed by meetings SAWS has been holding with BexarMet ratepayers — in the event of dissolution we will not become SAWS ratepayers for five to eight years, but will be run as a ‘special project' separate utility during those years.

“There will also be no decrease in water rates, and SAWS will have the unilateral power to increase rates however and whenever they choose,” Wenger wrote.

Uresti says he has never said rates for BexarMet ratepayers will be lower.

“I don't think anybody can say rates will go down or up because it's just too early to tell, but there will be stability in the bills that you're not getting right now,” he said, adding that generally SAWS bills are lower.

Joe Silman, a Stone Oak resident who has yet to decide which way he will vote, says there are many variables to consider.

“There's a lot of unknowns that nobody's really answered,” he said, adding that if interconnects in the Stone Oak area happen as promised, that would be a positive, yet losing a go-to person would be a negative.

“Everything in the middle is to be determined. There is one major positive and there is one major negative and everything else is much more gray.”

Menendez adds that this election will be much like shopping around for services and he encourages ratepayers to do their research, ask their neighbors and make the best decision for their families.

“Compare their services just like when you go shopping. Don't do it because I said so. Do it because you want to do the best choice for you and your family.

“They just need to go out there and make the vote that's in the best interest of them and their families. That's it,” he said.

Early voting will be held 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Oct. 28; from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 29; from noon to 6 p.m. Oct. 30; and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 at the following area sites: